S3 02: December 2020 - PostMap Podcast, Xmas Spesh

Let’s face it, it's pretty much Xmas already, so for the next 60 minutes just surrender yourself to a good stuffing of audio enjoyment, in a suitably festive episode of the Lost Map Podcast - featuring tracks from our Xmas Card compilation, and a lot of tenuous Yuletide features.

Ho ho ho, Pictish Trail’s stuck up the chimney, his sack literally bulging with postcards. In this month’s episode of the Lost Map Podcast, we unveil a very special Xmas Card containing a compilation of NINE (count ‘em!) tracks from various acts on the Lost Map roster. In order to validate their Xmas credentials, we’ve asked a few band members to list their Top Five Best Things That Are Christmassy, covering the key topics of Food, Songs, Films and Boozes.

In addition to all this merriment, we roast some proverbial chestnuts with Matt Gibb - aka bedroom glitch-pop producer, Kinbote - in a chat about his involvement with the ReAnalogue collective and the making of his debut album, Shifting Distance (out December 4th).

In First Gig / Worst Gig, we invite Jenny Moore (of Jenny Moore’s Mystic Business fame) to usher the ghost of Xmas Past, recalling her first gig experience as a punter, and her worst gig experience as a performer.

And in this month’s edition of THIS OR THAT we subject our robot cowboy, A.R. Pinewood, to a gruelling assault of binary snowballs. Oooft.

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EPISODE TRACKLISTING:

1. Happy Clarinetty - ’I Remember Christmas’

2. Kinbote - ‘Hiemalis’

3. Kinbote - ‘(On A String)’

4. Friends Of The Guinness - ’Ciara’

5. Jenny Moore’s Mystic Business - ‘I Am Afraid’

6. Fell - ‘Fear Of Christmas’

7. A.R. Pinewood - ’Tis The Season’

8. Friends Of The Guinness - ’Town For Tomorrow'


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To support Lost Map, and to listen to all the music featured in the programme in full, you should join our PostMap Club. A monthly membership starts at just £3, and you'll receive printed postcards delivered to your door every month, containing downloads of new music from the label. You also receive a membership badge, newsletter and discount codes for other stuff from our webshop. Visit lostmap.com/club for details on how to join.

Lost Map Podcast is presented by Pictish Trail. Additional production and editing by Joe Cormack. This episode is made possible with support from Creative Scotland.

S3 01: November 2020 - PostMap Podcast, w/ Martha Ffion + more

Lost Map Podcast gets a reboot! Join your host Pictish Trail for the first episode of a new series, centred around PostMap Club - our monthly membership programme, where we send you postcards containing downloads for new music from the label.

Hello, Pictish Trail, here! Welcome to Series 3 of the Lost Map Podcast - we’ve given it a bit of a reboot. We’re going to try and release a brand new episode of the pod on the first day of each month, centred around new music that we have released through our PostMap Club. Wish us luck.

PostMap Club is our membership programme, where - from just £3 - you can receive printed postcards delivered to your door every month, containing downloads for new music from the label. You also receive a membership badge, monthly newsletter and discount codes for other stuff from the label. Visit lostmap.com/club for details on how to join.

In this episode of the podcast, you’ll hear some scintillating chat with Claire McKay, aka Martha Ffion. She tells us about the making of her new album - Nights To Forget - and reveals all the details of an exclusive live session she’s recorded, entitled Captured On Cassette. The full session was filmed, and will premiere live on Wednesday 25th November - PostMap Club members will get free access, and tickets will also be available to purchase separately from lostmap.com.

We’ve also got a face-to-face interview between Laura and Mike from the band Firestations - they give us the scoop on a new series of EPs they’re releasing with us over the coming months. The first EP, Automatic Tendencies is out on November 6th, and features the single ’Small Island’ and a “sunken version” of ‘Greenmount’, clips of which you can hear in this episode.

In First Gig / Worst Gig, we ask artists to tell us about the first gig they ever attended as a punter, and the worst gig they’ve ever played as a performer. Our first contestant for this feature is Callum Easter, whose debut album - Here Or Nowhere - recently won the public vote for Scottish Album of the Year. Both his first gig and his worst gig choices are absolutely harrowing.

Another new regular feature is called THIS OR THAT, in which we ask a series of quick-fire questions on the hottest of all hot topics. The first person to take the challenge is a brand new signing to the label, SULKA. But will he choose this, or that?!!? His new single ‘Fear It’ is out now, and the postcard comes with an exclusive acoustic version.

We’ve got clips of music from all the above, and there’s also a brand new track (in full!) from Clémentine March. A packed show!

EPISODE TRACKLISTING:

1. Martha Ffion - ’Nights To Forget’ (Captured On Cassette live session)

2. Martha Ffion - ‘Going Out In Style’ (Captured On Cassette live session)

3. Callum Easter - ‘Make A Move’

4. Firestations - ’Small Island’

5. Firestations - ‘Greenmount’ (Sunken Version)

6. Sulka - ‘Fear It’

7. Clémentine March - ‘Elixir’ (Single Version)

To support Lost Map, join our PostMap Club! Go to lostmap.com/club for more details.

Lost Map Podcast is presented by Pictish Trail. Additional production and editing by Joe Cormack. This episode is made possible with support from Creative Scotland.

S2 07: VISITATIONS - Rozi Plain Pt.2 + series round-up

In January 2020, Rozi Plain travelled over to the Isle of Eigg to work with two of her closest companions; GERARD BLACK, a Glasgow-based musician and songwriter, frontman with electronic synth upstarts Babe, and frequent performer with Charlotte Gainsbourg and François & The Atlas Mountains; and JAMIE WHITBY-COLES, a fellow acolyte of the Bristol scene, who plays alongside Rozi with This Is The Kit, and creates his own music under the moniker B-Fax. 

Whilst on the island, this ebullient trio recorded a collection of woozy, groovy instrumentals and songs; dreamy guitars, soft analogue synths, floaty drums and percussion collide, each pal taking a turn on lead vocals. 

Part two of our two-part interview, was recorded in September 2020. Rozi, Gerard and Jamie were in Winchester, sat in Rozi’s parent’s garden - taking a break from recording some new demos. They discuss how they met one another, their trip to Eigg, and their writing/recording process during their stay on the island. Throughout this episode you’ll hear clips of some of the tracks they created for the project. 

To listen to the music they created in full, and to support this podcast, please subscribe to VISITATIONS. You’ll receive 3 x 12” vinyl releases (with CD and download copies included) from the three acts in the current series - Arthur King, Rachel Aggs, and Rozi Plain. Go to lostmap.com/visitations for more info.  

You can find Rozi over on roziplain.co.uk, and on all the regular social media places with the handle @roziplain. Gerard Black is @akuriousoranj on Twitter, and @babeband on Instagram. Jamie Whitby-Coles is an online enigma, but you can purchase his debut solo album, under the name B-Fax, available only from indie-shops across the UK. 

At the end of the episode, Pictish Trail presents an overview of the two series of VISITATIONS thus far, reflects on their common themes, and reveals what lies in store for the podcast… 

Lost Map Podcast is presented by Pictish Trail. Additional production and editing by Joe Cormack.

S2 06: VISITATIONS - Rozi Plain Pt.1

ROZI PLAIN's gently hypnotic, slightly askew songs have steadily made their way from her home-town of Winchester, reverberated through the bustling Bristol DIY scene, and currently emanate from London’s creative epicentre. One of Lost Map’s most successful alumni, now signed to Memphis Industries, Rozi’s music has acquired a worldliness that’s reflected in her international touring schedule; each of her albums broach new sonic territory, but retain a sense of intimacy and a reassuring warmth of spirit.

In part one of our two-part interview, Rozi chats to us from her folks place in Winchester, discussing her life in music, and the people she’s worked with over the years. Throughout this episode you’ll hear clips of music she’s released across her career, including some of the tracks she recorded on Eigg with her collaborators Gerard Black and Jamie Whitby-Coles. We’ll hear more from those guys in part two.

To listen to the music they created in full, and to support this podcast, please subscribe to VISITATIONS. You’ll received 3 x 12” vinyl releases (with CD and download copies included) from the three acts in the current series - Arthur King, Rachel Aggs, and Rozi Plain. Go to lostmap.com/visitations for more info.

You can find Rozi over on roziplain.co.uk, and on all the regular social media places with the handle @roziplain.

Lost Map Podcast is presented by Pictish Trail. Additional production and editing by Joe Cormack.

S2 05: PostMap Podcast - Club Biscuit Taster

Lost Map loves sending out postcards. The label’s very first release was a printed postcard containing a download code for a compilation of tracks from across the roster, launched at Green Man Festival in Wales in 2013. Since then, there’s been almost 100 different postcard releases - featuring a plethora of exclusive tracks, b-sides, remixes, live sessions and audio experiments from the Lost Map collective. In 2019, the label launched PostMap Club, a monthly subscription service where fans receive a package of new postcards every month, along with a newsletter and membership badge.

In this episode of the Lost Map Podcast, label boss Pictish Trail reveals seven of his favourite tracks, tucked away on postcards over the years … and reveals plans for upcoming developments to PostMap Club. There’s also a special message from each of the artists featured in this episode. 

Bart from eagleowl dishes up a steaming hot buffet of facts; Martha Ffion recounts a chilling counterfeit transaction at a dodgy flea-market; Manuela takes us on a ride of her family boat; Good Dog reveals her lock-down survival techniques; Craig from Savage Mansion tells us his worst nightmare; and Rozi Plain takes us back to windy Wales, with an audio-postcard of her recent family holiday.

Here’s the track-listing:

1. eagelowl - 'eagleowl vs. woodpigeon' (I’m quiet when you’re not Tommy Perman remix)

2. Martha Ffion - ’No Applause’

3. Manuela - Cracks In The Concrete (Nadia Ksaiba 7inch Dance Dance Dance edit)

4. Good Dog - ‘Floating’ (live @ home)

5. Savage Mansion - 'Third Lanark’

6. Rozi Plain - ‘Friend City’ (Seamus Fogarty remix)

7. Pictish Trail - ’No Flags’ (Savage Mansion cover, Morning Breakfast version)

If you’d like to support this podcast, sign up to Lost Map’s PostMap Club. Membership starts from just £3 per month. Go to www.lostmap.com/club for details.

Lost Map Podcast is presented by Pictish Trail. Additional production and editing by Joe Cormack.

S2 04: VISITATIONS - Rachel Aggs Pt.2

Now that you’ve met Rachel Aggs, the supremely talented singer and guitarist with Trash Kit, Shopping and Sacred Paws, let’s see how she got on, with her trip to the Isle of Eigg for our VISITATIONS project.

Arriving on the island during the final week of August 2019, armed with her guitar, violin, laptop and a drum machine, she set about creating a diary of songs and instrumental pieces. These intimate solo recordings showcase her distinctive guitar and vocal style, mixed a with lo-fi pop sensibility, capturing a snapshot of isolation inside and outside of the bothy; where field recordings of the sea crashing wildly against the rocks meet the sound of a kettle whistling.

If you’d like to support this podcast, and listen to the music that has been created by Rachel, you can do so by signing up to VISITATIONS. Go to www.lostmap.com/visitations for details on our vinyl and digital subscriptions.

This series of VISITATIONS was conducted in St Franny’s Bothan. If you’d like to check out the space, and maybe book a trip to the island yourself, check out www.stfrannys.com.

You can find Rachel Aggs on Twitter: www.twitter.com/aggsrachel

Lost Map Podcast is written, produced and presented by Pictish Trail. Additional production and editing by Joe Cormack.

S2 03: VISITATIONS - Rachel Aggs Pt.1

RACHEL AGGS is an exceptionally prolific virtuoso of euphoric post-punk queercore music, achieving international acclaim with her collaborative projects Trash Kit, Shopping and Sacred Paws; galvanising the DIY scene in London, and her current home of Glasgow in the process. No mean feat!

We’ve been fans of Rachel’s music for years, and were thrilled when she said she was up for taking part in our VISITATIONS residency series. She’s been over to Eigg a bunch of times before, performing at our Howlin’ Fling! Festival with Trash Kit and Sacred Paws, but this was her first solo trip - and, indeed, the VISITATIONS record she has made is her first solo album. 

In this episode of the podcast, we sent Rachel a list of questions, and she recorded answers from her home studio, in June 2020. She talks about her first forays into music, her influences, the birth of her three main collaborative projects, her move from London to Glasgow, and reflects upon the importance of visibility in the DIY/indie scene. It’s a great interview - if you’re new to Rachel's music, this podcast is a good introduction!

If you’d like to support this podcast, and listen to the music that has been created by Rachel, you can do so by signing up to VISITATIONS. Go to www.lostmap.com/visitations for details on our vinyl and digital subscriptions.

This series of VISITATIONS was conducted in St Franny’s Bothan. If you’d like to check out the space, and maybe book a trip to the island yourself, check out www.stfrannys.com.

You can find Rachel Aggs on Twitter: www.twitter.com/aggsrachel

Lost Map Podcast is written, produced and presented by Pictish Trail. Additional production and editing by Joe Cormack.

S2 02: VISITATIONS - Jason Lytle and Arthur King Pt.2

In our previous episode, we met Grandaddy front-man Jason Lytle, and were introduced to the world of ARTHUR KING - a collective of musicians and film-makers associated with the Dangerbird Records label, in Los Angeles. The ferry from Mallaig had just arrived on the Isle of Eigg, and the ARTHUR KING gang were about to disembark, and begin their week long stay as part of our VISITATIONS artist residency project.

Donning all-white laboratory overalls and red-beanie hats, the team immediately set about extracting samples of their surroundings with recording devices, creating an hypnotic collage of wildlife, nature, weather and local gossip. This provided the sonic landscape, over which the members improvised - culminating in a performance in the living room of one of the island’s residents, and a trippy late-night slot at the Ceilidh Hall as part of our Howlin’ Fling! festival.

In this second episode of the podcast, we chat to Jason Lytle, Aaron Espinoza and Peter Walker about life on Eigg, their recording process and the creation of the music for the project, as well as the experience of performing at Howlin’ Fling!. It also features an exclusive recording of Jason performing a classic Grandaddy song on piano, live at the festival.

If you’d like to support this podcast, and listen to the music that has been created by ARTHUR KING, you can do so by signing up to VISITATIONS. Go to www.lostmap.com/visitations for details on our vinyl and digital subscriptions.

This series of VISITATIONS was conducted in St Franny’s Bothan. If you’d like to check out the space, and maybe book a trip to the island yourself, check out www.stfrannys.com.

To check out the other projects of ARTHUR KING, go to www.whoisarthurking.com. You can see what Jason Lytle is up to, over at http://jasonlytle.com/.

Lost Map Podcast is written, produced and presented by Pictish Trail. Additional production and editing by Joe Cormack.

S2 01: VISITATIONS - Jason Lytle and Arthur King Pt.1

Our second series of Lost Map’s artist residency project, VISITATIONS, gets underway with a release from ARTHUR KING - a collective of musicians and artists associated with the Dangerbird Records label, in Los Angeles.

Their journey was sparked by an online conversation between Jason Lytle (front-man with alt-rock pioneers, Grandaddy) and Pictish Trail, in early-2019; having seen photos of our first series of VISITATIONS, Jason was keen to embrace the opportunity to explore the Isle of Eigg, and collaborate with his musical cohorts, Aaron Espinoza and Peter Walker of Dangerbird. All of this was to be captured on camera, manipulated, and projected back onto the island itself by fellow Arthur King companions, John Schlue and Aaron Farley. 

In this first episode of the podcast, we chat to Jason about his life in music, and his journey to Eigg … and we hear from Aaron Espinoza and Peter Walker about the Arthur King project itself.

If you’d like to support this podcast, and listen to the music that has been created for this project, you can do so by signing up to VISITATIONS. Go to www.lostmap.com/visitations for details on our vinyl and digital subscriptions.

Lost Map Podcast is written, produced and presented by Pictish Trail. Additional production and editing by Joe Cormack.

S2 Teaser: Introduction to VISITATIONS Series 2

Daft-pop impresario Pictish Trail (aka Johnny Lynch) runs Lost Map Records from the remote Scottish isle of Eigg. In 2018, he conducted an artist residency programme on the island, inviting three different music acts over to write and record new material during the course of a week’s stay. The music they made was pressed on to vinyl, and available as part of a subscription set from the Lost Map website. The project was called VISITATIONS, and it returns in 2020 for a second season. 

There are three new acts taking part this year - the otherworldly L.A. collective ARTHUR KING (featuring alt-rock hero, Jason Lytle, of Grandaddy), the ecstatic post-punk of Glasgow’s RACHEL AGGS (of Sacred Paws, Shopping and Trash Kit), and the hypnotic sway of Winchester’s finest ROZI PLAIN. For this second podcast series, Pictish Trail will be interviewing the various musicians involved, asking them about their lives in music, and their experience on the island.

If you’d like to support this podcast, and listen to the music that has been created for this project, you can do so by signing up to VISITATIONS. Go to www.lostmap.com/visitations for details on our vinyl and digital subscriptions.

Lost Map Podcast is written, produced and presented by Pictish Trail. Additional production and editing by Joe Cormack.

S1 07: XMAS SPESH - Malcolm Middleton

Pictish Trail has some daft chat with his ol’ pal and tour buddy, MALCOLM MIDDLETON - a conversation recorded in front of a live audience at Summerhall in Edinburgh, on Saturday 15th December 2018, as part of Lost Map’s annual festive all-dayer, Kid Canaveral’s Xmas Baubles.

Originally hailing from Falkirk, Malcolm Middleton has created an immense back-catalogue of sonic introspection and lyrical self-deprecation since the mid-90’s. With 7 albums under his own name, a few other albums and EPs under the moniker Human Don’t Be Angry, as well as 6 studio albums and various compilations as one half of Arab Strap, not to mention a collaborative album with David Shrigley, MM is one of Scotland’s most prolific and inventive singer-songwriters. His latest album, Bananas, was released recently to much acclaim, and finds Malky wallowing in suitably reliable form. He performs the song ‘Man Up Man Down’ from that album, at the end of our chat, as well as one of his up-beat Xmas numbers. Check him out, over here: malcolmmiddleton.com

Lost Map Podcast is presented by Pictish Trail, produced and edited by Joe Cormack. Additional production support from Richie Morgan.

S1 06: VISITATIONS - Slow Tree

This conversation was recorded on Thursday November 1st, 2018, via Skype - with Abi & Neil chatting from their home on the Isle of Skye, and Pictish Trail on the Isle of Eigg, Scotland.

Abi & Neil had visited Eigg the previous year, in November of 2017, spending a week recording in Sweeney’s Bothy. The resulting songs capture the drawing light and darkened heavens of the late autumn mists under which they were recorded. Across four tracks of cinematic dream-folk, Slow Tree manipulate the natural reverb of the island’s caves, allowing hushed vocals, ethereal piano and sweeping viola to glide alongside the strains of swirling birds in song.

If you’d like to hear the music Slow Tree created in full, or simply support our podcast, you can do so by signing up to VISITATIONS. Visit www.lostmap.com/visitations for details on our vinyl and digital subscriptions.

Lost Map Podcast is presented by Pictish Trail, produced and edited by Joe Cormack.

S1 05: VISITATIONS - Free Love Pt.2

Our conversation was recorded on Friday 14th September 2018, and finds Suzi Rodden and Lewis Cook (aka FREE LOVE) discussing their adventures in music together over the past 10 years. After 5 years of performing under the name Happy Meals, the duo have recently transformed into FREE LOVE - indeed, the music they recorded for VISITATIONS is their first physical release under this new moniker. We talk about how they developed their sound over the years, and the inspiration they took from the island during the recording of the VISITATIONS EP.

If you’d like to hear the music Free Love created on Eigg in full, or simply support our podcast, you can do so by signing up to VISITATIONS. Visit www.lostmap.com/visitations for details on our vinyl and digital subscriptions.

You can visit Free Love over here: https://www.freelovenrg.com/, and be sure to catch them on tour over the coming months - as they have another mini-album of tunes, Luxury Hits, coming out this year.

Lost Map Podcast is presented by Pictish Trail, produced and edited by Joe Cormack, and supported by Creative Scotland.

S1 04: VISITATIONS - Free Love Pt.1

FREE LOVE, cosmic duo Suzi Rodden and Lewis Cook, are a couple whose pulsating psychedelic odysseys have been emanating from Glasgow since 2013, via esteemed labels Night School, and the Optimo imprint, So Low. Formerly operating under the name Happy Meals, their transformation into Free Love is now complete, where hi-NRG Italo disco and 90s rave-pop thrills complement the undulating drones of their sonic and yogic experimentalism.

They beamed down to the island for a week, at the end of September til the beginning of October in 2017, just as the summer’s sun was beginning to set, and created a concept EP about being abducted by aliens. Analogue synths and drum machines come to life, taking possession of Free Love’s bodies, and creating a truly intergalactic entity. “Set the controls for the sun of your heart”. We’ll be chatting with the band, one year on from their experience, in our next episode.

You can visit Free Love over here: https://www.freelovenrg.com/ 

If you’d like to hear the music Free Love created in full, or simply support our podcast, you can do so by signing up to VISITATIONS. Visit www.lostmap.com/visitations for details on our vinyl and digital subscriptions.

Lost Map Podcast is presented by Pictish Trail, produced and edited by Joe Cormack, and supported by Creative Scotland.

S1 03: VISITATIONS - Monoganon Pt.2

This conversation was recorded in late-June 2018, via Skype - with Monoganon calling from his home in Malmo, Sweden, and Pictish Trail on the Isle of Eigg, Scotland.

Having spent a week in sonic isolation, Monoganon reveals all about his experiences on the Isle of Eigg, and the music he created for VISITATIONS - which has just been released as a 12” vinyl EP, with an accompanying CD of bonus tracks. This podcast episode contains excerpts of the music, as well as the sound of soft vaping and a few stray lambs.

You can visit Monoganon over here: monoganon.com

If you’d like to hear the music Monoganon created in full, or simply support our podcast, you can do so by signing up to VISITATIONS. Visit lostmap.com/visitationsfor details on our vinyl and digital subscriptions.

Lost Map Podcast is presented by Pictish Trail, produced and edited by Joe Cormack.

S1 02: VISITATIONS - Monoganon Pt.1

Pictish Trail chats with the first contestant in our VISITATIONS residency project, John B McKenna, aka MONOGANON.  We recorded this during Monoganon's stay on the Isle of Eigg, in July 2017. 

Monoganon is a singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Carluke, in Scotland - who relocated to Malmo, Sweden, about 6 years ago. After a series of mini-albums and singles, he self-released his first full-length album, Songs To Swim To, in 2011. His sophomore album, F A M I L Y, was the first official release on Lost Map Records in 2013, and was followed up by Killmens in 2017.

In this first interview, we talk a fair bit about John B’s name, the records he listened to during his teenage years, and his life in music - from his first early recordings, and ramshackle live shows, to the recording of his three albums. There’s also a good bit of chat about the legendarily unrelenting Glasgwegian metalcore monsters, Desalvo.

 

Visit Monoganon over here: http://monoganon.com/

F A M I L Y : http://lostmap.com/products/monoganon-family

Killmens: http://lostmap.com/products/monoganon-killmens

 

We’ll be chatting more to Monoganon about his experiences on the island, and the EP he created for VISITATIONS in Episode 03.

If you’d like to support the podcast, you can do so by signing up to VISITATIONS. Visit www.lostmap.com/visitations for details on our vinyl and digital subscriptions.

Lost Map Podcast is presented by Pictish Trail, produced and edited by Joe Cormack.

S1 01: Introduction to Lost Map and VISITATIONS

Pictish Trail, aka folk-pop musician Johnny Lynch, is a household name on the Scottish Isle of Eigg (although, to be fair, with a population of around 100 people, there aren’t many houses there). From Eigg, he runs a unique DIY record label and collective called LOST MAP, and has just started an exciting residency program called VISITATIONS - where artists are invited over to the island to record new music, in solitude. In this introductory podcast you’ll find out all about the Lost Map label, and the VISITATIONS project, and how you can get involved.

Episode Links

If you’d like to support the podcast, you can do so by signing up to VISITATIONS. Visit www.lostmap.com/visitations for details on our vinyl and digital subscriptions.

The music played at the end of the episode is ‘Receiver (Sunken Version)’ by Firestations. You can purchase the track, here: www.lostmap.com/postcards/postmap-209

Lost Map Podcast is presented by Pictish Trail, produced and edited by Joe Cormack.